OK. This is not my best work, but considering that it's taken with my phone at night through a thermopane window... not the worst.

I didn't plan on taking a photo of another spider, but when Rusty said that it's grown a couple of sizes...

I like the lighting in this one. (Whilst shivering a bit because, really, EW!)

In other news...

I was thrilled to find my new Zennis in the mailbox on Friday!

I'd lost my computer glasses on that busy Thursday during Auntie Camp when we went to Bay Beach and Titletown... I contacted both of them and Lambeau Field, too (because we'd parked there), and nothing. Almost immediately, I ordered some prescription readers (new lenses in some old frames) from my local optician, because I cannot live without them now, but didn't like/never got used to the single-vision thing. So then I asked Facebook for some recommendations and Zenni Optical was the clear favorite. Zenni offers two different versions of "computer glasses" and, including the special UV/blue light blocker, the entire pair was less than half the aforementioned lenses. And I love them!!

Alison, a long-time blog reader, contacted me a couple of weeks ago when she realized that she & her husband would be passing through on a trip across Wisconsin. One thing led to another and, long-story-short:

We met up at the coffee shop, went out to dinner (with our husbands, too), and they were our guests in the apartment on Friday! It just happened to work out that our next Airbnb guests weren't arriving until Saturday afternoon. (If you ever find yourself in NE Wisconsin, hit me up! You never know...)

Pumpkin from the kids' pumpkin patch!!

Junah & Ginny arrived later Friday evening for a sleepover, and so we could get up & go -- it was the fall City-wide Rummage Sale on Saturday! We slept in a bit, though, and had breakfast... and our first (very good) stop was a block away! My neighbor, Nancy, who owns the antique mall downtown, was clearing out some stuff at home and we ALL found treasures there. I stopped the car maybe three more times and we were able to walk to a few sales at each stop... and soon enough they'd had enough, and were ready to go home and play with their new stuff.

One of the items we found was a Curious George DVD, which I popped into the DVD player in the apartment so they could watch/relax while I changed over for our Airbnb guests arriving from Texas later that day... our first for a Packer game at Lambeau Field!! (They were so excited... all of our guests for Packer games are positively giddy!)

This was the mood on Sunday:

Super-chill. That's Duncan on our bed (I love the outstretched paw) -- a place that he's usually not allowed to be -- but I let him snooze for as long as he liked.

Ann and I had our first virtual Craft Date on Sunday morning! It was already wine time for her, but still solidly coffee time for me (I attended in my PJs).

I can't believe it's taken us this many years to do this! She pulled out her long-languishing Alabama Chanin Swing Skirt and made good progress! I finished a little mending project and then worked on my Car Coat. We stitched and chatted for almost two hours! And we plan to do it weekly (as much as possible).

Beverly mentioned a few weeks ago on FB that on September 22nd there will be 100 days left to the end of the year! Since I've been thinking of launching another 100-day project, anyway, and I've brought some of "my stuff" out, I think that's an excellent time to start again. Between that (at least :15/day) and weekly craft time with Ann, I should make another pretty good dent in that project!

How was your weekend???

Rusty & I went to the Friday night opening of "Surfacing: a contemporary textile exhibition" featuring the work of Wisconsin artists Alison Gates, Patricia Filzen, and Heidi Parkes, curated by Cristian Andersson.

 “Through the historical perspective of craft and ‘women’s work,’ the pieces in the exhibition will at times speaks on feminism, environmentalism, and politics, while at other times pull back remembrances of home, comfort, and familiarity.”

Alison Gates is a professor of Art and Women's & Gender Studies at UW-Green Bay (also a knitter, among other things). I've known Pat Filzen for many years; she is pictured above wearing a vest made from one of her woven pieces. Heidi Parkes is a Milwaukee-based quilter; I've been following her on IG for quite some time.

I was very excited to learn that Heidi was also presenting an all-day Visible Mending Workshop on Saturday, and was quite possibly the first person to sign up!

I expected to learn a little... I wasn't expecting to learn A LOT!! It was a great workshop and I'm so happy that I attended.

This family-favorite Kantha Quilt belongs to Sarah, and was damaged a few years ago by her Husky puppy! The nature of this quilt makes is perfect for "visible mending" and, perhaps it doesn't seem like it would be very difficult... but one of the things we learned with this piece was how to make a repair to something like a quilt when fabric is actually missing (having been chewed). The rest will be all about choosing fabrics (the fun part!) -- though there are also lots and lots of small tears to mend, so hopefully not too tedious.

This is a repair that Lisa made on her husband's pajama pants. He's an accountant... so this "visible" mend was made... um, with subtlety. From Lisa, I learned about using tiny magnets on my work as a needle keeper!

Deb bought this antique Double Wedding Ring Quilt at an estate sale, and there are a number of fabrics in various states of... disintegration. (Oh, how I wish I'd taken more photos!) She'd made one little repair in class, a brighter pink square on the left just below center (above a red square and between pink-ish squares on either side). She'd observed the most obvious fabrics needing repair/replacement, but discovered in class that there are many others.

I wish I'd taken photos of the jean jacket that Cristian was repairing... it's his favorite! (Kate's known him for a few years and she knew exactly which jacket I was talking about!) Heidi had previously worked on it for him and, by continuing that work, Cristian was pleased to be making it a collaborative project.

One of my projects was Kate's laptop case. She bought it from a maker on Etsy several years ago, and would have likely purchased a replacement if he could have been found. It was a great project for class! I repaired two damaged corners, noticing and proactively patching another small tear in the process!

I left the workshop with a start and/or guidance for a couple of other projects that I'd brought... and ideas for several others at home!

Sunday was a bit dreary, but I went downstairs and cleaned up my dye studio a bit and even threw a few hanks into the pot.

This view is usually full of hydrangeas in the foreground, but they suffered from house painters and electricians over the summer. Storms didn't help, either. Among all the greenery, you might make out a young catalpa tree (the more distant one with huge leaves) missing some branches and listing quite to the left... a big box elder had fallen onto it.

I first saw this guy when just three legs were visible in the crack between the window and sill. To be honest, I tried to "get" him, but I missed. Then I got busy doing other stuff and he came out... and kept his distance. We'll see how long this "relationship" lasts... I'm not a "spider person" in the least!! That's going to count as my Macro Monday photo because Ali thought it was as big as a tarantula when she saw my photo on IG! (He's sorta big but not THAT big.)

Lastly, it was the 111th anniversary of my maternal grandmother's birth yesterday.

Marcella -- or Marstella ("Mary of the Stars") (pronounced Mar-SHTEL-la by her German-speaking mother, according to my mother) -- died at age 57, when I was 8. She was into needlework of all types, and I wish she'd lived long enough to have shared that with her... so I could have proudly shown how neat my needlework was on the back! Haha. One of my treasures is an embroidered pillow top that she'd partially completed, and that I eventually mustered the nerve to finish -- it took a few years! I have very few photos of her, but my favorites are the wedding photos. Happy Birthday, Grandma!

We had the majority of our house's exterior painted last month -- all the siding, the 2nd/3rd floor windows, and the 2nd/3rd floor gables. The lower windows & trim and the garage were left for Rusty; he got started on that job last week and has been working on the front/north side of the house.

Once upon a time, there was a big wrap-around porch, but it's been a small "Greek Revival" style porch ever since we moved in. It was well used, back in the day, our kids and the neighbor kids played with LEGOs, Barbies, American Girl dolls, and stuffed animals, among other things -- every inch of that porch would be covered with stuff some days! You could barely open the door, and our former mail carrier still talks about it! Sometimes the kids would set up on the back porch, or either of the neighbors' porches... I'm not sure what determined the location each day, but it was very fluid.

Anyway, Rusty found this yesterday in the dirt next to the front porch:

While he was working on this:

That's both the up-side and the down-side to DIY! I'm happy that he knows how to fix it and is still willing... and not even grumbling about it!

It's all looking very nice and fresh with a new coat of paint. We had a lovely weekend, too!

First of all, HELLO!! It seems a lot longer than six days since I've been here, but WHAT A WEEK!! Auntie Camp v.5 was fabulous, and I have a ton to share about that in the next week or so. But first, it's MACRO MONDAY!

Water droplets nestled in a succulent near the garage door caught my eye.

And these are amaranth microgreens atop some lovely roasted potatoes from yesterdays Kaukauna Coffee & Tea/313 Dodge collaboration brunch. What a wonderful way to spend a few hours on a Sunday.

It was about as perfect a five days off as one could ask for -- family, food, and tons of fun! I had the weekend mostly to myself for Auntie Camp recovery, and I accomplished a few things, too. I hope you had a great weekend, as well!

Last week, I completely forgot about Macro Monday and I never found the time (or maybe inspiration) (or possibly energy) to do it on another day.

I just returned from a weekend with two cousins, a cousin-in-law, two first cousins once-removed and the girlfriend of one of them, my sister, my brother-in-law, and two nephews. (A good time was had by all!)

There was a parcel on the porch upon my return, and this week, I'm very excited about the possibilities presented/promised by this:

Three photos of three new colors of embroidery floss from Alabama Chanin. Charcoal, Slate, and Eggplant. I'm not sure the Eggplant will work with my Car Jacket, but the other two most definitely will. I'm ready to get back to that project for another 100-200-300 however-many-hundreds-of-days it'll take to finish it.

I hope you all had a great weekend, and a good Monday (macro or otherwise)!

In addition to heightened hoopla on the weekend, I was technically on vacation on Monday and completely forgot about Macro Monday.

I spotted this on my way to the car this morning:

Happy Wednesday! I'm working, which is not usual for a Wednesday, but still getting that "hump day" vibe and looking forward to the weekend (already)!

I had the day off of work today! I prefer my 3-day weekends to be Fri-Sun instead of Sat-Mon... but I guess I'll take what I can get.

I didn't want to, but I mowed the lawn this morning. Yesterday would have been a much better day for it, but I was otherwise occupied... Kate & I had our shopping/lunch date with Ginny. I know a few of you saw my IG stories about that. She was a HOOT! I'll do a separate little post about it.

I also had a meeting with the house painter this morning.

Otherwise, I've been sewing! I cut all the pieces for the girls' dresses and have been sewing a little bit each day. Plus I hemmed a pair of jeans for Kate last night. I finished Malina's (except for a button) this afternoon. I thought some sewing-related macro shots would be appropriate.

I bought a new machine a few months ago, and I've finally gotten around to actually sewing something. It's a Baby Lock Jubilant. There's a bit of a learning curve, as it has quite a few more features than my old Husqvarna -- I have to look up how to do every single thing -- but I like it so far and it has some great features, such as self-threading and a drop-in bobbin under a see-through plate. I have wound a bobbin and threaded the machine once or twice now without having to look it up, so that's progress!

Nice, even stitches. The machine has a speed control, so if it's on SLOW, it'll only go so fast (or slow, heh) no matter how hard I step on the pedal. That'll be great if & when the kids want to learn to sew. I can also forego the pedal altogether and just use a start/stop button... but that seems so weird!

I used one of the overlock stitches to finish the edges of the flutter sleeves. It's so cool to be able to do that!

I sewed one of those sleeves three times in order to get the flutter placed in the correct position, right-side up. Ugh! The sewing directions were similar to the ones you see in sewing where you knit a thing and then they tell you to knit another one but reversing the shaping, or whatever. Yeah.

Ginny's should go a bit quicker, now that I've done it once and know what to look out for. The pattern is Violette Field Threads' Ruthie. I might actually do a strip of velcro where the button should go because this is a size 2 (the smallest available) and Malina is a bit shy of that and also not a super-pudge like her brother & sister were! Or maybe one buttonhole and two buttons.

The hostas are blooming!

Kate took this great photo on July 4th. Junah directed our fireworks show, with an assist from Ginny, and Kate was our pyromaster. They're not even the star of this photo, but the hostas (and ferns) are definitely hard to miss, and the showstopper (Blue Angel) can't even be seen from this view. The ferns are almost monstrous this year! I've never seen them so big and full.

These were taken with my phone (Samsung Galaxy S9) in the front bed pictured above on Saturday when Junah was over "helping" me for a few hours. He essentially watched me pull weeds in the back yard for :05, declared it boring, and went up to the house and occupied himself with an old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle car (missing pieces but still intriguing and fun) that we found at the antique mall, aka Nancy's. It's super fun going to the antique mall with him! He's getting to know the lay of the land, his favorite booths, the "shortcuts," and it's fun to see what catches his eye. Nancy lives just down the street from me and she gets a kick out of it, too.

I hope you had a great holiday and a wonderful weekend. I have been knitting, sewing, dying over all of the Revolutionary War airport memes, and celebrating a Women's World Cup victory!!

I can hardly believe it's July! Now's the time that summer feels like it might be slipping away, especially because we've hardly had any summer weather to enjoy... so.much.rain.

It certainly was summertime hot & humid over the weekend, with more of that in the forecast (along with more rain).

I've whittled the Macro Monday photos for today down from 10 (that I processed) to four:

There's a small stack of shells on one of the pergola benches... randomly stacked by one of the kiddos (I'm guessing Gin) and it's been undisturbed for days. I love the subtle colors!

Our young-ish catalpa trees are LOADED with flowers this year!!

And there are plenty of buds yet to open. So pretty.

So, naturally, our Airbnb guests arrived early on Friday and we were last on the list for appliance delivery... so that was less than ideal. The appliance guys arrived about :20 after the guests, but they were really great and the whole process went SUPER smooth! Had our guests arrived at regular check-in time, I'd have just been finishing up... just as I'd mentioned in my heads-up note to them. I'm really happy with the new fridge!

The thrift shop hop in Green Bay was fun on Saturday. Kate made a pretty good haul; I bought a pair of wine glasses and some sewing needles. Obviously, lunch was the highlight for me! We checked out Copper State Brewing Co., which is related to Copper Rock Coffee Co. located in Appleton. Kate had some pork tacos with a lager, I had a burger with an IPA and a half. I caught whiff of a hamburger on the way in and couldn't shake it...

I finished my Alabama Chanin A-line Tunic re-do! I found a back-side photo from June 2017 when I finished (the first time) to compare:

The difference in stitching is plain to see! I've popped it in the wash to even it all out (the equivalent of blocking knits). (Obviously, red is my preferred color for toenails!)

I did some #100daysknitorious2019 stitching on my Car Jacket, and also started some projects for the kids. By that, I mean that I mostly printed and taped and cut patterns pieces (so time consuming!). I'm making matching dresses for Ginny & Malina and a coordinating vest for Junah. I'm using some "Nana" fabric... a white embroidered cotton that were originally cafe curtains that my mom had made for the coffee shop (skirts of the dresses and body of the vest), and a floral Ralph Lauren sheet that was a favorite of my mom's (flutter sleeves, straps & bands on the dresses, welts & possibly facings on the vest & bow tie). We've been wanting to make something from that curtain fabric for a couple of years now, so finally... but it really needs stabilizing. I've ordered some fusible stuff and keep your fingers crossed that it's shipped sooner rather than later because just minutes after I did that, Ali sent me a message about a photo shoot for the kids on July 8th and it would be SO GREAT to have these projects finished. I could get away with adding another layer to the dresses, and maybe even to the vest... we'll see. I have a couple of days to think on it all.

Y'know, I was OK yesterday.

This morning, two blocks from work, a song came on the radio and I just started to cry... it's been hard to shake (doesn't help that it's gray and raining today).

My friend Carole calls that "sneaky grief." She is so right.

My mom died five years ago yesterday. And I miss her. A lot. I suppose I always will.

So bear with me.

The MACRO:

Another peony. The kids were over for a while yesterday and Junah was having a hard time when it was time to head home. He stomped outside... and I walked out after him. We sat together on the front porch and talked it out (sort of?), and then he jumped up and ran around the corner of the house. Pretty soon he came back and gave me this peony. Though similar, this isn't one of mine; he wasn't gone long enough, for one thing. So, thanks, sweet Junah... and neighbors!!

Speaking of the front porch, I stopped to take a photo of mine as I left for work this morning.

Do you see it? That sweet little kitty curled up on my porch chair?

That's not our cat. He/she sure looks right at home, though!

This is one of the sweetest photos I've taken of Malina yet; sitting on my front porch with her mama last night.

So, emotions are all over the place, anyway, and now this:

IT'S A RAD TIME TO BE A KNITTER!!

Though I don't post much about politics, I haven't been silent -- except that I really cannot say that guy's name or call him "my president," so silent in a way, I guess. I am still utterly shocked that he was even elected and I still find him utterly despicable. He has done absolutely nothing to change those feelings.

I stand with Ravelry 100%

Peonies!

And a little less macro-y:

I inspected and flicked 'em off when I saw them, but here's hoping I didn't bring too many ants into the house!

Whoopsie! I was so engrossed in the goings-on in the Big City last week that I completely forgot about Macro Monday!

If you follow me on Instagram, this needs no explanation!

If you don't, #100daysknitorious will help get you up to speed (or bore you to tears).

Bonus/making up for last week:

I feel like these could be better if the "focus" was a little different. I may try again...

_ _ _ _ _

I hope you had a great weekend! I had my biggest Airbnb group yet... for a one-night stay. OMG, that's a lot of work, and don't worry, the minimum stay was changed to TWO nights a while back! BUT, they were among the BEST guests ever -- a young man, his mom, and his grandparents -- all to see Sir Paul McCartney at Lambeau Field. It can't get much better than that. They were SUPER friendly and so excited. Fun family times, and I'm happy to have given them a comfy place to land. Even if it is a helluvalotta work... another 5-star review for my efforts, and the SUPERHOST status shall be mine come July!!

I had some great family time with my own family over the weekend, too, including an early evening pop-in at a band gig with Ali & the kids to wish Rod a happy birthday!

Joining Carole & friends for Three Things on Thursday...

I'm headed to New York tomorrow morning for a few days of hanging out with Kate -- I haven't laid eyes on her since we parted ways at Gatwick on March 21st! She's certainly been absent for far longer, but she's been doing so many things -- residencies and/or shows in London, Leeds and Lisbon (hm, there's a ring to that), a trip to Scotland and vacation in the Highlands, a visit to Berlin -- and I'm anxious to catch up face-to-face. She'll be staying in NYC for another week or so after I leave, to do the Greenpoint Open Studios show in Brooklyn again, then head to Los Angeles for a long weekend of work-y/art stuff there, and then finally home around the middle of the month. Anyway... I'm planning to get together with a few other people in NYC, too; we'll see how that all pans out!

Meanwhile, here are 3 Things on my NYC list for this visit:

1 -- Landmarks: The Statue of Liberty and Strawberry Fields.

2 -- Parks: Central Park and the Highline.

3 -- Museums: The Whitney and the Tenement museums.

Strawberry Fields and Central Park may seem like the same thing... but they're not! Luckily, the Whitney is right by the Highline. The Tenement Museum has been on both of our lists for a long time. The tourist in me really wants to visit Lady Liberty.

I have high hopes for all of those things!!

_ _ _ _ _

The photo above has nothing to do with going to NYC! Ali drew a lovely rainbow on the sidewalk on Memorial Day and I thought it made for a nice photo to show off a new pedicure and sandals ! Maddy loves Chacos and she ordered a pair for me (with her discount) for Mothers Day -- Z/Cloud Llama Angora (I had to have them).

Here are a few more photos from the weekend... I had the big kids overnight because Ali & Rod went to an out of town wedding.

This little being is starting to WALK!!

It's been incredibly busy, but I'm committed to stitching every single day!

I haven't taken a knitting class in quite a few years, but sat down last night for INTRO TO BRIOCHE at my new LYS... which, I noticed on the way in, has gargoyles perched atop!

I am so excited to join Carole for Macro Mondays this summer!! I was sad that I forgot about Macro May... for 2 seconds. I'd mentioned to Carole that Macro-some-month-other-than-May could be fun, for something different -- different things in nature, especially -- and she came up with the Monday idea and it's just perfect. Maybe you'll join us, too! If you don't have a macro lens, just take a close-up. My first photo will be taken with my phone because I'm not taking the big camera to the big city. The keyword is STEADY! Use a tripod or something to stabilize your camera/phone, and a remote shutter release or time delay.

OK. That's all I've got!